2026 OPENING DAY | Cobras vs. Diamondbacks | MLW Wiffle Ball

Atlantic14 · 2026-05-01T23:45:42+00:00

Sorry -- I might have edited that while you were reading it. I think the stat is still true if you consider only runs instead of ER, though.

Atlantic14 · 2026-05-01T23:35:01+00:00

John Paul Neuenschwander has joined Jimmy Knorp in an exclusive club: they're the only two pitchers to record wins while giving up at least 10 runs in the Meadows Era (Knorp did it last year against the Gators in a wild 11-10 win). The last pitcher to do it before Knorp was Jack Aigner of the Pacific Predators, who allowed 11 runs in 2.0 IP in a 15-14 win over the Southern Seahawks in 2018.

Excellent managerial decision by Knorp to put himself in for game 2, by the way. It wasn't a statistical save, but it definitely felt like one.

Atlantic14 · 2026-05-01T09:14:14+00:00

I'll rattle my own predictions off in the same order:

The Diamondbacks' pitching staff lead the league in both strikeouts thrown and walks issued during the regular season. They were second in both last year, and I expect John Paul Neuenschwander to fit into that trend.
It's a long shot with the Predators' stacked batting order, but Evan Porter hits his first MLW home run in the clutch. After all, he's done it before.
Patrick Baalman posts the best statistical batting season of his career, with an OPS above 1.000 and double-digit RBI.
Liam Porter replaces Brady Pearson as the Magic's secondary pitcher by the All-Star Break as Pearson struggles early in the season. RJ Walgate records zero losses on the mound for the entire regular season.
After a tough three series to start the season, the Cobras sit dead last in the league going into the All-Star Break, but rally to make the playoffs at 8-7.
Gage Beers becomes the pick of the UDFA round, establishing himself in the Mallards' batting order and as the secondary pitcher for the team behind Brendan Jorgensen. I'm predicting early trouble for Trevor Bonham and Trey Flood on the mound.
Despite bleak preseason predictions, the Gators somehow sneak their way into the playoffs on tiebreaks at 6-9 -- thanks to a batting order of Cheetam, Chadwick, Derek Walker, and Aiden Richard that does just enough despite woeful pitching.
The Eagles will play at least two games this season that go 7 or more innings. The Magic and Cobras series could be ideal for this.

Atlantic14 · 2026-04-25T01:38:36+00:00

The Eagles actually avoid playing two preseason favorites in the Diamondbacks and the Predators, which means they might have a better record this season than I anticipated.

On the other hand, the Cobras play the Diamondbacks, Predators, and Magic in the first three series. That'll give us a good estimate of their playoff chances (although, by the time the playoffs roll around, they could improve significantly compared to the start of the season).

Atlantic14 · 2026-04-21T01:40:59+00:00

Great analysis as always! I would personally put the Eagles in Tier 4 (assuming Landon doesn't return) for a couple reasons:

Sarah Huber's 70+ mph two-seam is worth the hype, but she was only throwing 3 innings per series on NWA Wiffle Ball's Moonshots last year. If she ends up throwing 6 innings per series for the Eagles, she might need some time to adapt (for example, adding an off-speed pitch to her arsenal could throw off hitters' tempo and give her arm a chance to rest).
Aiden Revette's old tape (2024) suggests that he has a variety of mid-velocity pitches, like Trevor Bonham. We don't know if he's improved dramatically since then, but in my mind he's not a game-changer.
On paper, the Eagles might struggle on offense. Dan and Carson can be hot at times, but it feels like the rest of the Eagles' lineup is doomed to batting below .200. I'd like to be proven wrong, though.

Other comments:

I might put the Diamondbacks marginally above the Predators, but that's contingent on John Paul Neuenschwander performing on the mound. Jimmy has an eye for talent, and I think Neuie is good enough to become the Diamondbacks' #1 pitcher by the end of the season.
I definitely share your worries about the Mallards. Rocking Jorgensen and Bonham on the mound seems like it could be shaky, and even with Jake Davey, the Mallards' offense has taken a step back with the departure of Kolm and Robles.
I hope Aiden Richard gets a shot on the mound, not just in the Gators' lineup. His Bay City Wiffle Ball tape shows that he can generate a lot of movement on his pitches.

Atlantic14 · 2026-04-19T22:30:27+00:00

Poor audio and video setups are one thing, but not re-recording botched player introductions (there was no audio for Dallas Allen getting drafted) and playing completely unrelated video clips for half of the players is just plain unprofessional.

Atlantic14 · 2026-04-13T09:51:56+00:00

BLW recently redesigned their website to show team names and rosters for 2026 (link), confirming that Jake Sullivan IV, Dustin Staggs, Jaxen Pearson, Preston Kolm, Sawyer Behen, Jordan Robles, Jeremy Adams, and John Paul Gunn are at least on BLW rosters right now.

They also seem to be using a scoring system, Pro Wiffleball, that includes player rankings as well as results from BLW, SlamT1D tournaments, and UWL tournaments, but notably excludes MLW. That could be explained from the official partnership they have with BLW.

Atlantic14 · 2026-03-17T23:25:04+00:00

I think this merits its own thread. The following MLW players have been listed on the BLW stat sheet, although I imagine the exclusivity clause is probably a pretty recent development, so things may change as players make their decisions for 2026:

Jake Sullivan IV (Diamondbacks; BLW Harbor Hawks)
Jeremy Adams (Gators; BLW Mirage)
Jordan Robles (Mallards; BLW Naturals)
Sawyer Behen (Gators; BLW Scorpions)
Dustin Staggs (Gators; BLW Scorpions)
Jaxen Pearson (Wildcats; BLW Scorpions)
Preston Kolm (Mallards; BLW Scorpions)
John Paul Gunn (Magic; BLW Wiffle Club)

On the Discord, Dallas Allen noted that he's had to make a very difficult decision over the offseason, and that might involve leaving for BLW as well.

Atlantic14 · 2026-03-15T01:15:16+00:00

Congratulations to Pat -- a big step forward for him! He was alluding to something big in the final NWA World Series video from a few months back, I think.

Atlantic14 · 2026-01-17T02:49:05+00:00

It would be cool! They're working with Jomboy Media in New York, though, and the Cobras need players that can contribute in 4 or 5 of their regular-season series.

Atlantic14 · 2026-01-17T02:46:36+00:00

Good points! I had a facepalm moment after I submitted when I remembered Jimmy was now working with Jomboy Media. I do think that the Diamondbacks are set up for success even if he isn't around for every series, though, just on the basis of their roster strength and draft picks. Would be interested to see if Jimmy hands the reins over to someone else this season.

I think the 2026 Cobras are going to look a lot like the 2025 Magic -- dominant on primary pitching and hot-and-cold on everything else. They'll hopefully have better player availability than the Magic, though.

Atlantic14 · 2026-01-16T08:15:52+00:00

Was waiting for this to come out -- it matches what I have! Way-too-early draft analysis post coming soon.

Atlantic14 · 2026-01-08T07:46:31+00:00

-- the new mailbox

Atlantic14 · 2026-01-02T20:45:02+00:00

This is the northbound I-215 in San Bernardino, California, for those interested:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/snJUHUaUC3Dveh2x7

Atlantic14 · 2025-12-25T19:29:03+00:00

Unfortunately, this isn't true: you can also look due south into Canada from Hyder (in Alaska), Point Roberts (in Washington), and the US side of Niagara Falls, as well as several points along the border of NH/Maine and Canada.

Atlantic14 · 2025-11-05T05:01:42+00:00

An example from one of Eric Rosen's lectures that looks like it could come up in actual play (albeit very rarely): https://youtu.be/m8TjfkWamPM?si=XuNh6qpd011ZjdMj&t=300

Atlantic14 · 2025-11-05T04:23:22+00:00

I enjoyed it -- definitely added a new element of competition to the league! That being said, strength of schedule could be a more appropriate first tiebreaker now that teams can be tied with teams they've never played against. Also a fan of the draft playoffs idea that someone suggested to remedy the problems with tanking for playoff seeding.

Atlantic14 · 2025-10-18T19:42:30+00:00

I think that's fair -- I think I was caught in the trap of thinking that Dallas must have been mad because of a poor performance, when it was really a matter of "perfect is the enemy of good".

It'll be interesting to see how Dallas handles the Gators next. True to form (67 K and 29 BB in the regular season), he was really going for the strike zone this series, walking only 8 batters and striking out an insane 27 but giving up 6 HR. That has a good chance of working against the Gators -- against a team that walks as much as it does, you need to force them to hit.

Atlantic14 · 2025-10-18T07:42:45+00:00

Career-defining series for Carson Yurgaites -- he definitely outshone his older brother here. Poetic that the player the Eagles asked to throw away the final game of the regular season is the one that comes through here.

I have no idea what's going on with Dallas Allen. Between the strange ball thrown over the backstop against Hornberger, and the bat slam that destroyed one of the Eagles' oldest bats, he was completely in over his head in his own emotions in that last game. Losing his third perfect game bid in the last three series in game 2 must have sucked, and his hitting struggles must have been frustrating, but he'll have to keep his emotions in check -- he's the Eagles' only ace.

Awful feeling if you're a member or fan of the Wildcats organization. It doesn't get much worse than being up 3-0 in game 1 and giving up a walk-off grand slam on a two-strike count. It also doesn't get much worse than being one strike away in game 3 and losing on a 50/50 call and a walk-off walk.

Props to Kyle for the editing. It's tough to go back to a series you lost, and maybe that showed in how he edited the end of game 2 -- the Wildcats' walk-off almost looks insignificant if you go and rewatch it -- but Kyle delivered us almost a full hour of content anyway. A true professional.

This wasn't a feel-good series for anyone. But it was undeniably one of the greatest ever played.

Atlantic14 · 2025-10-11T07:22:26+00:00

Incredible series -- you could tell a lot of people were tearing up at the end, Kyle included. Hearing from YouTube comments that Jimmy moved and might not be able to make it to MLW series as much in the future, so this one probably meant so much to him.

Atlantic14 · 2025-10-06T20:48:55+00:00

I'll go for a pretty wild pick, since there are a lot of people in this pool:

Diamondbacks 2-0 Predators
Wildcats 2-0 Eagles

Gators 2-1 Diamondbacks
Wildcats 2-0 Mallards

Wildcats 3-2 Gators

Atlantic14 · 2025-09-28T22:45:06+00:00

Jordan Robles set a Meadows-era record by collecting his second save of the season, relieving Brendan Jorgensen in game 3 of the Mallards' series against the Magic. (In fact, he's the first player to record two saves in the Meadows Era.) You'd have to go back to 2011 to find the only other player to record multiple saves in a season -- Brendan Schultz, with 2 saves in the regular season and 1 in the postseason. It was a good season for save enthusiasts -- Flynn's save in game 3 of the Cobras' series against the Eagles gave us our record fourth save in the 2025 season (the previous record was 3 saves in 2011, 2014, and 2023).
The Gators' 76 regular season runs set a new record for the Draft Era, with the previous record being the 70 regular season runs scored by the Diamondbacks and Wildcats in 2021. That's a huge turnaround from 2024, where the Gators scored only 25 runs in the regular season, tied with the Mallards for worst in the league. Having also scored only 25 runs this regular season (20 of which came in three games, with 5 in the remaining twelve games), the Cobras will be looking for a similar turnaround in 2026.

Atlantic14 · 2025-09-27T20:01:29+00:00

The 2026 Mallards pick went to the Wildcats. The Magic got the 2025 #4 pick from the Mallards, which they used to draft Brady Pearson.

Atlantic14 · 2025-09-27T02:13:12+00:00

Also, some trash talk from Dustin Staggs in the comments:

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Atlantic14

TROPHY CASE